Jingsan Park and Hutongs

I wrote an entry yesterday, but I forgot to upload it. I'm on the train now, so I'll just write it again. Yesterday, I slept in, and didn't wake up until 10:30. As a result, I lost most of the morning. My friend and I went to her cafeteria for lunch, and I ordered these hot and sour potato noodles. We also had an array of small dishes. In the US, Korean restaurants always serve small dishes with your food, and Chinese ones usually don't. I wish they did--Chinese small dishes are awesome! We had a mix of wood ear, and something else that I don't remember now. My sesame balls were sold out. According to my friend, that is a breakfast food and not served during lunch. How disappointing.

I went back to Tiananmen Square, but it was not that great. It's just a large expanse of concrete, which Mao had built to symbolize the greatness of the Communist party. On a hot day though, it feels like you are being baked from all directions, since the concrete reflects the sun's rays. 

I walked around the Forbidden City, to the North, and went to Jingsan Park. This was also a sacred place once, for a Emperors to pray. One of the Emperors hung himself in this Park, because invaders had broken through the Forbidden City and he did not want to fall to the hands of the enemy. In those days though, would the enemy even recognize the emperor? It's not like there were photos. Couldn't he put on some servants clothes and escape? I guess perhaps at least one of the invaders had met him before? Anyhow, my friend said that she thinks the Forbidden City is full of ghosts, because many people there died suddenly, and likely with unfinished business. From the tallest point in the park, you can see the entire Forbidden City, a beautiful view. This point also has a shrine, with a golden Buddha inside. There are temples on the hills in the park, and many gardens. I like Chinese gardens a lot. In the afternoon, it is not so crowded, and a nice sanctuary from the craziness of the city. 

View of Forbidden City from Jingsan Park

Gardens at hutongs

Random alley

Random alley cat

After leaving Jingsan Park, I was going to go to the drum tower, so I walked back to Nanluoguxiang. There are some old alleys in that area, which are beautiful. I walked through them, and almost took a rickshaw tour. I made my way back to Nanluoguxiang and bought a bubble tea. Since I was tired from walking, I decided to sit down on a bench to enjoy it. I had about 5 really nice minutes, until the garbage man pulled up and parked his cart full of rotting garbage in front of me. I left, and walked through the street, but it was so crowded that I took a turn down one of the alleys. There are many dogs in this area. One fluffy Pomeranian bounced past me and I pointed and said to the owner, "so cute!" This ball of fluff suddenly flipped out and started barking at me like crazy. I yelled at him to stop, expecting to scare him, but it only enraged him further and he charged at me!

"Don't worry," said the owner, "he won't really bite." He looked like a biter. Small dogs tend to overestimate themselves. The motto at Boston University was "small dogs bite," since their mascot is a Boston Terrier, and I know plenty of little dogs that bite. 

The alleys are a nice remnant of an older Beijing, but apparently a lot of these alleys are being torn down for big construction projects. As I turned back, I passed a small store with a lizard in the window, and a large zodiac wheel. I was not planning to go in, since I typically worry about being pressured into buying services, and the place looked like it was closed. There was a sign on the door, in Chinese, which I can't read.

I decided to go in. I was immediately greeted by a little brown dog, who was so happy to see me you would have thought I was her long lost friend. "Sorry," I apologized, "I can't read Chinese. Are you open?"

The owner invited me in, and offered to put the dog in a cage, but I said it wasn't necessary. 

"What do you sell here?" I asked.

"Alcohol," she answered. There was a small bar, with hard liquor, and two tanks with tarantulas. There was also a table with a variety of tarot cards. 

As it turns out, the owner is also a tarot card reader, with four stores in Beijing, and a store in Taiwan and France. She learned tarot in France. While I was there, a customer called her, with a question. I have never seen anyone do tarot over the phone. The customer had a question about a boy, so the owner told her to picture him while she shuffled the cards. When the cards were drawn, the owner said that they do not have romantic compatibility or chemistry, but he will help her achieve something in her career. Chinese fortune tellers are more blunt, I think. It's a good thing. 

As it turns out, the store, which is actually a bar, is close during the day. She has a list of clients already and she doesn't like strangers; she's a scorpio. I said I was an aquarius, and she said I don't seem like one, and she had thought I was a scorpio too. Definitely not the case. She invited me to tea, and we had a lot of interesting conversations. She said that she had a dream where an old lady told her to buy gold, and wear it on her fingers. "I pay careful attention to dream," she said, "so I obeyed right away." Shortly after, she got hit by a car and then by a motorbike.

"So the lady was wrong," I said, "the gold brought you bad luck."

"No no," said the owner. "I think it protected me. I got into two accidents, and escaped with no harm, except a small bruise. I was knocked to the floor, but even my clothes weren't dirty."

She later said that due to something in her birth chart, I couldn't quite understand in Chinese, her destiny is to have a hard and sad life. Her english name is a man's name, which she had to pick to balance out something else in her chart. She has two children already, though she is only two years older than I am. 

It was a very nice afternoon. It's always nice to make new friends in new cities.